Los Angeles. March 20, 2009

Friends!

A rare event: Bob plays solo in Los Angeles.

Friday, March 20, 2009. 9pm (for real).

1519 Griffith Park Blvd. near Sunset Junction.

There will be art and drink.
And also other music by The Movies and Ema the Ghost.

Write it down. Cheers!

Strange Times

Funny how time moves. You can walk into a movie theater and come out having experienced a lifetime. You can lose nine months and it seems like a week.

The headphones are on the head but no music is playing. It's kind of nice. Blocks out the helicopters, the car alarms, the sound of the freeway. Just the fears and hopes pinging off the inside of the cranium, like the sound of a heavy rock heaved onto a frozen lake.

It's been a fallow season. But when springtime comes, it comes all in a rush, and all the flowers race to outbloom each other. You would not believe the music that is heaving itself up out of the soil. It makes me jump up and shout. I want to finish it immediately to push it on every person who walks their dog down the sidewalk in front of my house.

I wonder who writes this music - the music that I can't recall formulating? I would like to meet that person. Drinks are on me. Perhaps I will be lucky and that person will be Leonard Cohen or Samuel Barber. Probably not, but you never know.

In any case, I can't seem to kill it or convince it to leave me alone. Perhaps I am doomed. Perhaps I am blessed. So it goes. I can't wait to play it for someone.

Circle

I used to hate the band that sang this:

I quit.
I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems.
And I quit.
I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems.

And being alone's the best way to be
When I'm by myself it's the best way to be
When I'm all alone it's the best way to be
When I'm by myself nobody else can say

Goodbye.

Everything is temporary anyway.
When the streets are wet
The colors slip into the sky
But I don't know why
That means you and I are, that means you and I...

...quit.
I give up.
Nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems.

The 2007 Summer Jam?

It's summer!

Where I come from back in The Nation's Swamp the advent of summer always meant one thing:

We must determine the identity of The Summer Jam.

Generally, The Summer Jam identifies its own self. Because it's blasting out of every other car window, dorm window, jukebox, iPod earbud, and cheesy reality show. Which also means usually it's some flavor of commercial R&B. Kelis or J. Timberlake or whatever.

But some years there is controversy. A battle royale between Summer Jam contenders. Right now I think my friends can't decide between Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" and R. Kelly's "I'm a Flirt," with some stiff competition from Akon and/or Robin Thicke.

If your tastes run more to indie stuff, check out this summer mix tape (uh, of MP3s) compiled by The Burnside Writers Collective. You may notice a familiar song or two there.


Because as a rule The GRB is wrong about most things at first and needs to have its head smacked a time or two before it sinks in, feel encouraged to post the REAL identity of the 2007 Summer Jam right here.

Gracias.

The world of information

I think it's clear that, officially, The Gena Rowlands Band just doesn't blog enough. But where do all you people find the time to build this vast new infrastructure of humor and pathos? We (the royal we) are too busy being the butt of humor and pathos to type even one more word. And yet, somehow, we shall.

We shall also just start saying "I."

I probably hear from someone every other day that we (the real we, the band) doesn't tour enough. It's true. Here's the thing: you may as well burn a pile of money in the road as book a tour. Same results to the bank account. EVEN THOUGH IT IS OUR FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD TO DO, PLAYING SHOWS. We (the real we, but mostly I) are working hard to identify remedies. Large grants or a wealthy patron would be one option.

Anyway. Kindly don't miss these East Coast shows. It would be nice to meet and greet:

THURSDAY MAY 17 - BROOKLYN - PETE'S CANDY STORE
FRIDAY MAY 18 - FREDERICKSBURG - WOUNDED BOOK SHOP
SATURDAY MAY 19 - WASHINGTON DC - DC9
SUNDAY MAY 20 - PHILADELPHIA - KHYBER PASS

Check times. Some are early. More blogging soon.

Cheers.

Endless Summer

It's about to be November in the endless summer of Southern California. You can tell because the mosquitos are gone and sales of hoodies are up. The windows have remained open for the last 13 months. This is the way life should be.

Mixes from the new album are pinging into the inbox (as mixed by TJ Lipple and Chad Clark at Silver Sonya). Two great directors (David Wilson, Scott Teems) are envisioning to film the new songs "Fuccups of the World Unite" and "Love, For Lack of a Lesser Word" (listen to this one on our MySpace page). New members are being added to the fold. Shows are being booked.

Have we mentioned the crack team who played on the new record?

Dig it, if you will:

Thunderstick: Eric Axelson (whom you may know from Maritime and The Dismemberment Plan)

Drums: Vin Novara (percussionist extraordinaire from Canyon and CrownHateRuin)

Keys: David "The" Durst (he of many GRB tours and recordings, and Maritime, and Fast Eddie)

Violin: Jean Cook (again, GRB native and member of Beauty Pill, Ida, Jenny Toomey, Jon Langford's bands, et al.)

Guitar: Jason Caddell (again, The Dismemberment Plan, former excellent roommate, and current kickass producer)

Singing and shredding and carousing: R. Foolheart Massey XIV ("quatorze")

The album is slated for release on April 3, 2007.

Cheers, Bob M.

August = Loot empty homes of the idle rich.

June was hot as blazes in Washington, DC and New York City, where the GRB recorded a new full-length (#3) and played some shows to celebrate the release of our second record, The Nitrate Hymnal.

July passed without major incident, unless you count the Los Angeles debut of the GRB at Tangier, a lyrical javelin in the heart of the beast. Or something.

And August... the northern hemisphere is a ghost town in August as the well-to-do flood the beachier regions of the world. (The GRB stays home and loots their mansions.)

September will see the new album (recorded by TJ Lipple) mixed by Chad Clark at Silver Sonya. September will also include the creation of visual accompaniment for the songs "Fuccups of the World Unite" and "Love, For Lack of a Lesser Word" (listen to this one on our MySpace page). Okay, they're videos. What?


Have we mentioned the crack team who played on the new record?


Dig it, if you will:


Thunderstick: Eric Axelson (whom you may know from Maritime and The Dismemberment Plan)

Drums: Vin Novara (percussionist extraordinaire from Canyon and CrownHateRuin)

Keys: David "The" Durst (he of many GRB tours and recordings, and Maritime, and Fast Eddie)

Violin: Jean Cook (again, GRB native and member of Beauty Pill, Ida, Jenny Toomey, Jon Langford's bands, et al.)

Guitar: Jason Caddell (again, The Dismemberment Plan, former excellent roommate, and current kickass producer)

Singing and shredding and carousing: R. Foolheart Massey XIV ("quatorze")


It must be noted that Mssrs Lipple and Clark are mothereffin' masters of the tricky art of making mildly talented songwriters sound like magical mad geniuses.

DO NOT TELL ANYONE.


Cheers,
Bob M.